Let Me Love You
by A dragon's crystal
Summary: One night, Rei remembers a certain day in which Takao and the others told him the things that they've been seeing, especially when it's between him and a certain captain. Only the problem is, it's keeping him awake. [KxR one-shot]


**Crystal:** This happens when you only get half your inspiration back... -.-; Hope you guys enjoy it.

_Disclaimer:_ I'm not uttering these words here... besides you already know them, so I don't have to say it, right?

Oh, and before I completely forget, many thanks for Ladyfiction-sama for BETA reading this, so arigatou again! --smiles--

**

* * *

**

**

Let Me Love You

**

Rei could not sleep that night.

He didn't really know what was wrong, but he simply could not sleep at all. He tried counting sheep, drank a warm glass of milk, and even thought of one of the Chief's endless chattering (no offence to Kyouju and all)! He sighed and rolled around with his face buried deep on his soft, snugly pillow. Now he knew what was keeping him up this late of night. How could he forget! He'd been blushing all day because of what Takao and the others have been asking him about.

It all started one fine, sunny morning…

_… _

_Rei woke up at the sound of birds chirping by the branches of the trees and the sun's rays glaring down in front of him. He gave a small yawn and stretched kitty-style while blinking profusely and looked at the alarm clock. _

_10:50 AM it read. _

_The neko-jin's honey-coloured eyes widen at the red, digital numbers and climbed off the bed as quick as he could, while trying to brush his hair, brush his teeth, and put on his daily traditional Chinese-style clothing on at the same time. He couldn't believe that he had slept in! He usually was the first one (besides the crimson-eyed team captain that is) waking up and making breakfast for everybody! He was ready to go out of his room, when he realized that there was a letter by his bedside table. _

_Rei, being the curious little neko-jin that he is, picked up the note and opened it. _

**_Rei, _**

****

**_I've decided to let you sleep in for a while since you've been working way too hard on this last couple of weeks. You shouldn't really let that fat pig Kinomiya eat whatever he wants and let you cook it, and you shouldn't really let Mizuhara get to those confounded sugar, making him jump around like a flea. In any case, after you wake up, we'll be outside for training. _**

****

**_Kai_**

_The said neko-jin was surprised that the stoic team captain would do that for him, and blushed slightly at the thought of Kai caring for him, even if it's just in a little, tiny way. Rei shook his head and went out the room, while putting the note into his pocket. _

_… _

_When Rei arrived outside the backyard, what he saw didn't really surprise him one bit. As usual, Takao would be mouthing off to Kai about the intense training, and Max and Kyouju would try and hold Takao back from getting broken ribs and a black eye. And Rei of course, would be in the middle trying to sort everything out, but today when he overslept, it seemed that they handled it pretty well. _

_"Rei! There you are, how come you just woke up, dude?" Takao was the first one to notice Rei, after Kai had ended and won the argument. _

_Rei froze and blanked out. He didn't know what to say; should he tell Takao that Kai actually let him sleep in this morning? But then again, Kai would probably get irritated about the neko-jin telling the navy blue-eyed teen and just scoff and ignore their Chinese teammate. "Umm… uhh… well, you see…" he stuttered. _

_"Stop pestering, Rei," Kai barked. "He probably just woke up really early and went training somewhere; unlike you buffoons overslept like a bunch of bears in hibernation and had to be woken up using a pin." _

_Takao glared at the crimson-eyed Russian and blew a raspberry. "So? Nobody asked your opinion!" he retorted, then led Rei to where the Chief and Max were while muttering, "Team captain no baka…" _

_Rei on the other hand sighed in relief and thanked Kai inwardly before he could answer Takao. The neko-jin knew that his teammate would never let it down, and probably another heated argument would occur. _

_"So, why did you just show up now, Rei?" asked Max curiously as Rei sat down beside him. _

_The said latter squirmed slightly, unnerved at the unwanted attention he received. "Well, Kai was right… I just woke up really early, and uhh, decided to go off training somewhere…" _

_Max titled his head to the side, his eyes full of enquiring questions waiting to be answered. "But, how come you didn't make breakfast today?" _

_"I guess I just lost track of the time… gomen nasai," Rei apologized, while also giving a repentant grin. "I'll make it up today at lunch though, is that okay?" _

_Kyouju stopped typing on his laptop for a minute and took a glance towards Max, Rei, and Takao as he spoke up: "You know, I was surprised myself, when this morning I saw Kai making breakfast instead of Rei." _

_When Rei had heard what the Chief had said, he instantly looked over towards the lone figure that was launching his Suzaku beyblade in the battle dish on the other side of the yard. The neko-jin was surprised to find out that Kai could actually cook… no offence to the team captain of course, but… usually, it was Rei who did all the cooking, from breakfast, to lunch, to dinner, and he didn't mind at all. It was kind of fun actually. _

_Suddenly, Max gave an involuntary giggle. "Yeah… when Takao found out that Kai was the one who made the breakfast, he freaked out and thought that Kai poisoned everything, you should've been there Rei!" _

_Takao grumbled and walked away from the trio. "Hey, what if he did though?" _

_The neko-jin shook his head and sighed. "Takao, if Kai did want to give you food poisoning, he would've done that a long time ago, ne?" he asked, secretly trying to defend the Russian. _

_"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Takao admitted. "Wow Rei, for a second there, I thought you were actually defending Mr Sourpuss," he gave a whole-hearted laugh, while Rei gave nervous one and started to walk away from the younger boy. _

_"What makes you say that…?" _

_Takao shrugged. "I don't know… maybe you have a crush on him?" _

_Max, who was not paying attention to Takao and Rei's conversation properly, gave a gasp and looked at Rei. "You have a crush on Kai?!" _

_The Chinese youth blushed a bright shade of red and shook his head vigorously in denial. "N-No… what makes you think that, Max?" he stammered. Now that got him to think… did he really have a crush on his own captain? _

_Takao sweat dropped and slung an arm over Max's shoulders. "No Maxie. That question was a mistake; of course Rei doesn't like Kai! Kai's the Ice Prince, remember? Who would ever fall for him?" _

_'I probably would…' Rei thought and smacked himself for thinking in such a way. _

_"Hey! Are you all just going to sit there or train?!" Kai's icy voice boomed over them, making them jump at least a foot high. "I'm telling you, you're not going to eat lunch until you've practised enough!" _

_… _

_Rei walked inside the living room, while there others (referring to Max and Takao), who were literally crawling towards the sofas and breathing like they ran a three-day straight marathon because of the training. The neko-jin gave a comforting grin and took a seat on one of the armchairs. "Oh come on, you guys… that training wasn't even hard!" _

_"N-Not… h-hard?!" Takao said incredulously. "Man, Rei… ARE YOU NUTS?! MR SOURPUSS MADE US RUN 20 LAPS NONSTOP! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT HE ALSO MADE US DO 150 JUMPING JACKS, 200 SIT-UPS, AND 200 PUSH-UPS… AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THE TRAINING WASN'T HARD?!" he yelled, while gritting his teeth furiously. "I'm telling you… that's his way of KILLING US!" Max, who was too tired to speak, nodded in agreement and lied down on the sofa; ready to take the longest nap he'd ever taken. _

_Kyouju walked in the living room, and sat on the last armchair and opened his laptop. "I think I know why Rei's not really that tired, unlike you, Takao," the Chief replied, doing his favourite hobby in the world: typing. _

_The said bluenet managed to raise his eyebrow and said, "Really? What is it, then?" _

_"Well, from the information that I gathered earlier, I noticed that Rei only did half what Kai ordered you and Max to do. So technically, Rei only did 10 laps, 75 jumping jacks, 100 sit-ups, and 100 push-ups," Kenny concluded, while the duo was staring and almost gawking at Rei. _

_Rei on the other hand was trying very hard not to feel embarrassed about the noticeable treatment. It was true that Kai had only asked him to do half of what Max and Takao were suppose to do, but he didn't know why in all honesty. Just before they did their first lap, Kai had come to him and told him that he should only do half of everything and that was it. The neko-jin was really dumbfounded, but nonetheless did what was told to do. _

_"Um… w-well, maybe you d-did you're c-calculations wrong or something, Chief…" Rei stammered, while trying to avoid that certain subject. _

_"But the Chief never makes corrections…" Max pointed out. _

_'Darn it…' Rei thought, while trying to change the subject. He looked at the clock to see that it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They all had missed their lunch, and surprisingly, Takao didn't even seem to notice. "Anyway, I better start cooking for dinner…" _

_"What? But we haven't eaten lunch yet!" said Takao, who stopped gawping at Rei. _

_"It's four o'clock in the afternoon already, Takao," Chief said, while resuming his typing. _

_Rei stood up from the comforts of his chair and before he left, he heard Takao moaning about how hungry he was, with Max comforting the Seiryuu wielder, and Kyouju muttering something about Kai being soft when it comes to Rei which the said neko-jin got to think… was the ever-so stoic captain really being soft when it comes to him? Red tints appeared on Rei's tanned cheeks as he headed towards the kitchen, without noticing Kyouju's knowing smile. _

_When Rei had entered the kitchen, he was surprised when he saw paper bags with food inside them that were placed neatly on the dining table. He didn't even notice Kai leaning towards the wall, but instead just walked over where the cupboards were and was ready to take plates and glasses out, but he was stopped when a clear of throat was heard. _

_"The plates and glasses are already by the counter," a deep and enriched voice said, making Rei's tummy feel like there were butterflies fluttering around inside. _

_Crimson met Golden with shadings of brown in each set when Rei turned around to see Kai looking at him. "Oh… heh, never really noticed. Arigatou, Kai," Rei replied, as he took place mats and positioned them on the feasting table. _

_Kai raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that I put the plates and the glasses there?" he asked, with a hint of interest poking out. _

_Rei gave a small smile. "Well, the rest of us were at the living room, and you weren't there, so I figured you were the one that did everything." He then placed the glasses, plates, and cutlery on the plate mats. "Everything, including buying the dinner." With a satisfied look, he turned towards Kai with that small smile upon his lips. "Though, I do have one question: Why?" _

_The Russian youth shrugged at the query and went out the back door that led to the backyard. "Let's just say that you're in a state of getting too much stress and I figured I'd be "nice" for once and help you for a little bit." _

_Rei was dumbstruck. He was on the verge of too much stress? How could that be? Rei never did feel that he was doing too much, and even if he did he would ask one of his friends to help him, despite the fact that he had a stubborn streak. "But… I wasn't on the verge of having too much…" _

_"I'll be outside, training." Kai interrupted, whilst opening the door. _

_"How about dinner?" _

_"I already ate." And with that, Kai went outside and back to training again. Rei hadn't believed what Kai said and took out another extra plate and filled it with food enough for the older adolescent and placed it by the counter so that it wouldn't reach Takao's greedy hands. Then, he went back to the living room and announced that dinner was already served. _

_Takao, being the hungry one was the first to come in the kitchen/dining area and sat himself near the sink. "Wow Rei! That was really fast cooking!" he exclaimed, while putting as much food as he could onto his plate. _

_Kyouju and Max walked in a little later, seating themselves beside their hungry friend; also amazed that Rei could cook that fast. _

_Rei shook his head and gave a modest grin. "No, I didn't cook it… umm… Kai actually bought it." _

_Three pairs of eyes stared at the Byakko wielder, while stopping at what they were doing. "What?" all three of them said in unison. _

_"I said, Kai bought the food," Rei repeated again, only this time a little bit slower. _

_After Rei explained them everything, Takao had started to freak out and it took quite a while to calm him down ("Shh… its okay, Takao. Kai didn't poison the food!" soothed Max). When they did, they all finally ate in peace… well, unless you count Takao ingesting like a hundred famished people eating in peace, but nonetheless they finished eating without someone disrupting. _

_"You know," Max started, while he, and Takao were sitting by the dining table and Kyouju and Rei were putting the dishes by the sink for washing later. "I think there's something going on between you and Kai, Rei." When he heard that statement, Rei froze, thanking that he didn't hold anything that would drop and shatter. Wouldn't he look believable then? _

_"W-What makes you say that, Max?" Rei said trying to regain his composure, even though he could feel his cheeks heating up. _

_Max titled his head to the side and put his finger to his chin in a pondering fashion. "Well… it's sort of obvious… I mean, Kai didn't make you train twice as hard earlier, and now he also bought dinner so you didn't have to cook… and Kai's never this nice… you know that." _

_Rei agreed that Max had a point, but is it really that evident? He took a glance at Takao's and Kyouju's way to see what the looks of their faces were, and he definitely noticed that he was blushing very hard when Takao gave a crooked grin and Kyouju a smile the same as previously missed towards his way, and their grins widened even more when Kai entered from the back door and gave them all an emotionless glance and a sort of softening gaze when his crimson eyes looked at Rei, making the neko-jin redden even harder. _

_… _

Reminiscing that day still makes Rei blush incredibly and it's also keeping him from going to sleep. Again, he rolled over and glared at the headboard of his bed, and pouted reluctantly.

'There's only one way to settle this,' he thought, sighing.

He got off his bed and put his slippers on, relishing in the soft sensation against his feet. Then, yanking his gigantic, fluffy blanket with him, he went out his bedroom and into a certain one while taking small, quiet steps, trying very hard not to wake the others. Unfortunately, on the way he bumped into a side table, almost making a flower vase fall down and crash, but luckily he caught it with ease. Though, I bet you it's going to leave a nasty bruise in the morning.

Anyway, when Rei was in front of Kai's bedroom door, that's when he was starting to get very nervous. He took his hand out from the comforts of his warm blanket, and poised his hand three inches away from the door. Hesitantly, he gave a shaky knock then waited patiently for an answer. Surprisingly, he didn't receive a threat, but only a grunt that meant to say 'Come in'. The neko-jin gave a small cheer, and entered the door slowly, while going towards the Russian youth's bed only to find Kai was sitting on the edge with his arms crossed over his chest, and an impassive look lurking in his eyes.

"Well…?" Kai asked, still as icy as ever, though Rei noticed that it was a little softer than what Kai's usual voice is.

'He's probably tired from all that training.' "Umm… well… you see, I couldn't sleep… and uhh, I was wondering if…"

Kai didn't wait for Rei to finish his sentence and laid down the bed and rolled over the other side, his back facing Rei. The neko-jin on the other hand, gave a disappointed look. He knew that this was going to happen. Why'd he ever come here again? Rei sighed and walked back to the door, only to find,

"Are you going to get in the bed or not?" Only to find, Kai actually telling him to get in the bed and in a normal, kind tone of voice, which made Rei's stomach flutter again like there were butterflies fluttering their wings crazily.

Rei smiled cheerfully, and jumped on the bed, leaving his fluffy blanket behind, and into Kai's snuggling in the warmth that the bedspread was producing. He didn't even notice that he, Rei was also snuggling deeper towards Kai, until Kai turned around and put his arm around the Chinese youth.

The neko-jin blushed in the dark, and widened his smile. "Oyasumi-nasai, Kai." And he was barely awake when he heard Kai say,

"Oyasumi-nasai too… Kitten."

No words were needed, since their actions have already spoken what they have to say.

**

-- Owari --

**

* * *

**Crystal:** So... how was it? Was it okay, even though I only got half my inspiration back? o.O I hope so... anyway, please review for this little girl. Tee hee... Sayonara minna-san! XP


End file.
